When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore

[thisdesertrose.livejournal.com]

Who: Squall Leonhart and Firion, then Aerith and Cecil, and then the Warrior of Light. XD
Where: Dark Cave, Route 31, CherryGrove City
When: A few hours after this
Summary: Squall and Firion finally leave the cave, run into Aerith and Cecil on the way back, and then the Warrior of Light upon returning to Cherrygrove City.
Rating: IDEK
Log:
After many battles, Squall and Firion were finally out of the Dark Cave, both exhausted and a little more than sore. Firion was ready to sleep, to be perfectly honest, he had yet to really get a decent amount of rest. But they had to return to Cherrygrove first. However, he made sure to post an announcement when they finally left before putting the phone away so that they may meet Cecil and Aerith on the way back. In the meantime, Firion looked to Squall.

"Will you be alright after this?" Firion asked, looking at him with a stern, but gentle gaze. He wanted to be sure his friend would be fine, even if nightmares may plague him still after this. He didn't tell anyone, but he still had nightmares himself. So he knew Squall would have them soon after this, if not immediately. "And... will you travel with us? Light, Cecil, and I?"

They never traveled together during the Conflict, hardly looked at each other when all ten of them were together, but Firion still felt that Squall was a friend. Sure, Squall reminded him of a certain brother-like figure back home, but everyone reminded him of someone back home and he was sure it was almost the same with the others. After all, didn't Squall mention that Seifer, whomever he was, was like him with his talk of dreams? It didn't matter much to Firion, however. That they hardly traveled together, that he hardly knew much about the stoic teen. Firion didn't think he had to know that much to consider the young man a friend. After all, he could lose Squall any day. Death, going home, anything.

And if Firion didn't know a thing about him, like before, then how could Firion properly miss someone he barely knew?

[OOC: I put up subthreads for people to start posting in, there isn't much of an order established though, so we can establish one when everyone tags in]

Comments

[paladinlost]

Cecil thought about Firion's suggestion. Should they start walking immediately, to reach the city as quickly as possible? All of his muscles and his bones said so, but... "...There is something I must do first," he finally answered quietly. Normally he would have waited until they were all rested, but not this time. The frustration of the last week would get to him and he'd do something he might regret. Better do it quickly, before other travellers came by.

He took a deep breath and started walking toward Squall, looking at him in the eye, only stopping within an arm's lenght of him. There was nothing but steel in his gaze, and already his right hand was making a fist, almost unconsciouly. He raised it, pulled back, let it fly-

-and bumped his knuckles gently against Squall's forehead.

"You're grounded."

[solidbarrels.livejournal.com]

His back stiffened when he saw Cecil's arm move back. His eyes closed, he waited for the blow, ready to roll his head if he had to. What he didn't expect was the light bump of knuckles on his head. Opening his eyes, Squall stared (not even bothering to hide his confusion) at Cecil.

Grounded? Grounded?

"That's it?"

[thisdesertrose.livejournal.com]

Firion had also originally thought that Cecil would hit Squall and was even prepared to stop him, however, upon hearing the statement, Firion couldn't help but chuckle. "Squall, I would suggest leaving it at that."

Absently, he rubbed at his neck, wincing slightly at the soreness. The bruises were nearly gone, but the evidence was still there. Luckily, the darkness hid a good portion of them. But he felt awkward without his scarf now. "We should head back before Light becomes more worried as well."

[radiantxsmile.livejournal.com]

Aerith knew Cecil wasn't really going to hit Squall, but she did talk to him earlier about their plan. She couldn't help laugh softly watching the situation because Cecil really did look like a father grounding his son. Even Squall looked like a confuse kid.

"Wait until we get back to Cherrygrove," added Aerith with an amused smile on her lips. "I have a few things to say to you too," explained Aerith with the same smile on her lips. Only a handful of people could be able to tell it's one of her fake smiles. The flower girl wanted to yell at Squall without his friends looking later. She has a lot to lecture him for. A lot!

At the mention of another name, Aerith looked at Firion curiously and asked, "Light?"

[paladinlost]

Now that he had expressed himself, Cecil felt much better about the whole thing. He let a friendly smile appear on his face.

"Well, you did make Cyndaquil cry and the rest of us worry. I couldn't let you get away scot-free, could I?"

He couldn't let himself get truly angry at Squall, no matter how much he had worried. He'd only disappeared a week, and he hadn't gone very far. Wanting a bit of space was perfectly normal at that age, after such a dark experience. Besides... If he did decide to resent Squall for this, he'd have to resent Kain and Golbez too. And he refused to do so.

[solidbarrels.livejournal.com]

"...No." He eyed Cecil for a moment before looking away. "How do you plan to ground me anyway?" You're not my commanding officer. Or Headmaster, even. Hyne, like grounding would have worked on him anyway. Squall had no familial relationship to Cecil. The only connection between him and the others was that they all fought together during the Conflict.

And yet, something was more was building between himself and them. Just like he knew that something was transpiring between him, Zidane and Bartz after he found his crystal. He started to actively call them friends, despite turning down their offer to travel with them when the Conflict started.